2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Convertible

Ford's 650-hp beast drops its top in Chicago.

Ford dropped an automotive bomb when it introduced the 650-hp, 200-mph 2013 Mustang Shelby GT500 coupe late last year at the L.A. auto show. Seemingly overnight, the bar by which all muscle machines are measured was reset—tough luck, 580-hp Chevrolet Camaro ZL1—and no one outside of Ford has even driven the thing yet. The 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 convertible debuting at the Chicago auto show does the same for softtops, but lacks the coupe’s top-speed claim to fame: Because of the non-rigid roof, Ford will continue to limit the GT500 convertible to 155 mph.

Omigosh!

But the GT500 convertible can bask in the coupe’s “Omigosh it has how much power?!” limelight. The droptop comes packing the same 650-hp, supercharged 5.8-liter V-8 engine as the coupe, so the two will share the Most Powerful Mustang crown. The mill, which is bored out by 0.4 liter from last year’s 5.4-liter aluminum V-8, also receives updated heads, camshaft profiles, and injectors, as well as new piston squirters and a new TVS supercharger. The coupe’s new carbon-fiber driveshaft and up-rated clutch, transmission, and axle carry over to the 2013 convertible as well—they’re needed to help it cope with the additional power. Larger brakes front and rear—with new six-piston Brembo calipers in front—also make the move to the softtop model and help slow the Shelby from the extra-legal speeds it’s sure to reach. And like the coupe—spotting a trend yet?—the roofless GT500 can be had with a Performance package, which includes SVT-tuned, electronically adjustable Bilstein dampers with driver-selectable stiffness settings. The coupe’s Track package won’t be available here, which makes sense since the lighter, more rigid hardtop is the more natural choice for lapping duty.

The topless Shelby GT500 also wears the same slightly refreshed styling as the coupe, and, by extension, the rest of the 2013 Mustang lineup. That means the nose is blunter than the outgoing car’s, and it gets new headlights, LED taillights, and body-color rocker-panel extensions. The convertible inherits the 2013 coupe’s numerous aerodynamic improvements, too, even if they won’t be contributing to the higher top speed.

Twenty years ago, SVT unveiled its first two creations—the 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra and the SVT F-150 Lightning—at the 1992 Chicago auto show. To celebrate two decades of performance cars and trucks, all 2013 GT500 convertibles will get a commemorative lighted doorsill. If you’re an SVT aficionado, maybe that’ll sway you toward the GT500 convertible. Our choice will inevitably be the 200-mph coupe, though.